diff --git a/prog/weave-kube/init.sh b/prog/weave-kube/init.sh
index 6ff7916c..eb93e88c 100755
--- a/prog/weave-kube/init.sh
+++ b/prog/weave-kube/init.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 
 set -e
 
+[ -n "$WEAVE_DEBUG" ] && set -x
+
 modprobe_safe() {
     modprobe $1 || echo "Ignore the error if \"$1\" is built-in in the kernel" >&2
 }
diff --git a/prog/weave-kube/launch.sh b/prog/weave-kube/launch.sh
index 22d042c5..bf081547 100755
--- a/prog/weave-kube/launch.sh
+++ b/prog/weave-kube/launch.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 
 set -e
 
+[ -n "$WEAVE_DEBUG" ] && set -x
+
 # If this is run from an older manifest, run the init script here
 [ "${INIT_CONTAINER}" = "true" ] || "$(dirname "$0")/init.sh"
 
@@ -24,7 +26,9 @@ setup_iptables_backend() {
         fi
       fi
     fi
-    if [ $mode = "nft" ]; then
+    printf "iptables backend mode: %s\n" "$mode"
+    if [ "$mode" = "nft" ]; then
+      [ -n "$WEAVE_DEBUG" ] && echo "Changing iptables symlinks..."
       rm /sbin/iptables
       rm /sbin/iptables-save
       rm /sbin/iptables-restore
diff --git a/reweave/Makefile b/reweave/Makefile
index 2fd0c156..cf0db554 100644
--- a/reweave/Makefile
+++ b/reweave/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-IMAGE_VERSION ?= 2.8.3
+IMAGE_VERSION ?= 2.8.4-beta1
 REGISTRY_USER ?= rajchaudhuri
 
 ALPINE_BASEIMAGE ?= alpine:3.19.1
diff --git a/reweave/build/Dockerfile b/reweave/build/Dockerfile
index f37b95a0..701ebae4 100644
--- a/reweave/build/Dockerfile
+++ b/reweave/build/Dockerfile
@@ -105,15 +105,23 @@ LABEL works.weave.role="system" \
       org.label-schema.vcs-url="https://github.com/rajch/weave" \
       org.label-schema.vendor="Raj Chaudhuri (forked from Weaveworks)"
 
-RUN apk add --update \
-    curl \
-    iptables \
-    ipset \
-    iproute2 \
-    conntrack-tools \
-    bind-tools \
-    ca-certificates \
-    && rm -rf /var/cache/apk/*
+RUN <<EOWEAVER
+      apk add --update \
+                  curl \
+                  iptables \
+                  ipset \
+                  iproute2 \
+                  conntrack-tools \
+                  bind-tools \
+                  ca-certificates
+      # Alpine 3.19 made nftables the default backend for iptables
+      # For backward compatibility, the following is required:
+      apk add iptables-legacy
+      ln -sf /sbin/iptables-legacy /sbin/iptables
+      ln -sf /sbin/iptables-legacy-save /sbin/iptables-save
+      ln -sf /sbin/iptables-legacy-restore /sbin/iptables-restore
+      rm -rf /var/cache/apk/*
+EOWEAVER
 
 COPY --from=builder /root/weave/weave /root/weave/prog/weaver/weaver /home/weave/
 COPY --from=builder /root/weave/prog/weaveutil/weaveutil /usr/bin/
@@ -193,12 +201,22 @@ LABEL works.weave.role="system" \
       org.label-schema.vcs-url="https://github.com/rajch/weave" \
       org.label-schema.vendor="Raj Chaudhuri (forked from Weaveworks)"
 
-RUN apk add --update \
-    iptables \
-    ipset \
-    ulogd \
-    && rm -rf /var/cache/apk/* \
-    && mknod /var/log/ulogd.pcap p
+RUN <<EONPC
+      apk add --update \
+                  iptables \
+                  ipset \
+                  ulogd
+      mknod /var/log/ulogd.pcap p
+      
+      # Alpine 3.19 made nftables the default backend for iptables
+      # For backward compatibility, the following is required:
+      apk add iptables-legacy
+      ln -sf /sbin/iptables-legacy /sbin/iptables
+      ln -sf /sbin/iptables-legacy-save /sbin/iptables-save
+      ln -sf /sbin/iptables-legacy-restore /sbin/iptables-restore
+
+      rm -rf /var/cache/apk/*
+EONPC
 COPY --from=builder /root/weave/prog/weave-npc/weave-npc /usr/bin/weave-npc
 COPY --from=builder /root/weave/prog/weave-npc/ulogd.conf /etc/ulogd.conf
 COPY --from=builder /root/weave/prog/weave-npc/launch.sh /usr/bin/